When you're not allowed to die
by Sefiraat
Summary: The story of Ted and Aldo as they leave Obel to continue their adventure. Follows on after the Island Nations War.
1. Chapter 1

**When you're not allowed to die.**

The sounds of rampart cheering came from the bate crown room in Obel palace, the celebration of the war's end had carried on into the night with the sounds of glasses clanking against each other, the roaring of the many pirates who, incidentally, were given temporary amnesty due cause to their role in the war. Among all these noises, the most prominent of which was a loud sneeze with an odd magical echo, followed the sound of many confused drunkards.

Outside of the alcove palace sat a young looking boy, around seventeen to eighteen year old in looks. He was sitting on a small brick border surrounding on of the four decorative waters. The boy about five feet seven inches in height sported a very light ginger hair, brown eyes and was wearing a tanned grey buccaneer's jacket with crated sleeves covering his wrists. Most noticeable are the stained-brown leather gloves, the left of which was covered in blood down the inseam and looked like they hadn't been washed in several years. This hand was being slowly caressed by his right, allowing a small sliver of light to seep from under the glove with each motion pulling the glove back. This light was eerie, and if you were able to get close enough to it you would hear the sound of children crying, women screaming, and the faint voice of an old man trying to converse with the owner of the gloves.

"Ted!" shouted a loud boy with a shrill voice from within the palace "Ted! Hey man, what are you up to?"

"I'm leaving…" said the boy called Ted.

"You're leaving? Where are you going to go man? If you're going to the inn tell Sophia that she still owes me that cold cut."

Ted rose to his feet, while doing so; he slipped off the glove upon his right hand and let the light show to his friend.

"Do you know what this is Aldo?" The slightly older boy called Aldo looked at Ted's left hand briefly and then slowly looked him in the eyes. The puzzled look given to Ted made him continue talking, even though he had been expecting some sort of reply. "This is the Soul Eater… It is one of the twenty seven true runes, it is also known as the rune of punishment. It is a curse, nothing more, it was carried by my grandfather for over four hundred years, and It has currently been wielded by me for the last one hundred and four year, six months and nineteen days."

Aldo was stunned; this revelation was almost too farfetched for him to take in. He looked at Ted intensely and tied together the few words he could think of.

"Hum… You're not going to the inn are you…?" said Aldo with a light stutter.

"Yeah, I have to go, I am looking for a great witch, I honestly believe that she is the only one, who, can get rid of this accursed rune and not use it for her own gain." Ted Paused "Lazlo and I met her on the Fog Ship." replied Ted in a melancholy voice.

"So, where are we going then?" said Aldo, who had suddenly gained a large grin covering the most part of his face. At this point, Ted stood abased staring at Aldo, Ted was wondering why Aldo had invited him self on a mission that was so personal. Aldo and Ted weren't the best of friends, Aldo had, in fact, just attached him self to Ted due to their similar personalities.

"You cannot come Aldo; this will be dangerous, more so than this war, more so than Wilder's first mark." Said Ted, his voice was so stern but his volume remained static which made the effect of his words even more powerful.

"You are the first person I have ever been able to relate to, I don't care about what lies in your past or your future. I have no friends, nothing; my parents were killed by some witch…" Ted's eyes began to water and he flinched slightly, this was one of the few signs of real emotion that he had shown during his stint in the Island Nation's army. "…called Windy," continued Aldo.

"What!" exclaimed Ted; his voice was raised contrary to common actions. The noises from within the palace dulled down in connection with the shout. "Win… Windy…?"

"Yes… wh… why?" replied Aldo with slight fear in his voice, he had never seen such emotion from Ted, let alone had it targeted on him.

"You can come, but we leave now… let's go."

Ted and Aldo ran down the set of stairs leading towards the inn, Ted branched off towards the door to the inn where there was a box of Roc darts. He detached the leather quiver from his coat and took the darts.

They continued on toward the pier, ready to begin an epic adventure that would evidentially lead to Aldo's death, and the meeting between Teo McDohl and Ted.

**To Be Continued**


	2. Chapter 2

Ted had agreed to allow Aldo to follow him while he went searching for the runic witch Windy. Aldo was, at this time, unaware that the witch that killed Aldo's family during his youth is the same that killed Ted's grandfather in search of the Soul Eater, Ted's cursed true rune.

It was around midnight at this point; Aldo was stumbling to untie the reef knot that was keeping Lazlo's row boat in the quay, the same boat that Lazlo was set to the sea when he was thought to be dead. The knot proved to be more difficult than Aldo had expected, he didn't know it, but he was making it tighter rather than loosening it. A few minutes later, many curse words and the use of a "sharp" toothpick later; Aldo decided to give up and turned to see Ted staring off into the ocean.

"What's wrong Ted, and more importantly, can I have a hand?" said Aldo with desperation in his voice.

"hmph…" Ted replied indignantly. He raised his left hand and pointed, palm-forward, towards the rope. Without moving his head, and without being able to see in an way he muttered a few words and, with a sharp, short, flash the rope burnt into a red crisp then shortly disappeared.

"Going somewhere?" A mysterious voice spoke confidently through the shadows. The figure slowly headed towards Ted and Aldo, after about three to four step, the figure was bathed in the light of a nearby lantern. The figure was Rakgi, the loyal shore boat guard.

"Ragki? Damn man, you gave me a fright, why are you here?" said Aldo, stuttering even more than before.

"Guarding the dinghy, like I always do. So," Ragki paused, looked at his shoes for a second, trying to gather his thoughts. Running through his mind was the conversation that he and Ted had had just after the encounter with the fog ship.

"That rune, it's a cursed rune isn't it? A woman, shrouded in blue light, came to see me in my room last night, told me I needed to talk to you about my father…"

Rakgi was still looking at his shoes at this point, over ten seconds had passed, and the silence was heavy, although Aldo couldn't figure why, he knew he shouldn't say anything.

"I wanted to thank you for what you said to me Ted, and, I will break our agreement though, I will need to tell my mother, I feel she needs to know, it isn't fair for her not to." Ragki blurted without thought of time and his need to breathe. Ted, not knowing what words could make Ragki, or himself, feel better, simply nodded and put his foot into the dinghy. He stopped, paused and simply said.

"It was my fault; I hope you can forgive me. You…" he delved into his pocket and pulled out what looked to be a shard of glass. "Take this; I was planning on collecting the pieces myself, but… It is now yours." He handed the shard to Ragki slowly, knowing what would happen next. The moment the shard sensed the bloodline running through Ragki's veins, it glowed so intensely that the whole side of the island was illuminated in daylight.

The light succeeded and the shard was one, leaving just a mark on Ragki's right and left hand, and also his head.

"Three more, I have no idea where, but when you find them, talk to me again…" Ted got himself fully into the boat, where he ushered Aldo in with haste, before he was even sitting, Ted kicked the pier to get the boat moving.

**Goto the next Chapter --  
**


	3. Chapter 3

It was morning; the light from the sun was hidden by the blood red clouds in the sky, bathing the sea surrounding the dinghy in a pale red light, together with the green waters a murky brown colour was arranged, spoiling the otherwise tranquil morning. In the middle of this stringent water was Ted and Aldo's dinghy.

Inside the dinghy, Aldo was stretched around the mast, hugging it with a foetal expression on his face. Ted, however, was sitting upright staring off into the sky where the sun was hidden by clouds. His mind was emptied; he had learnt to shut off his emotions, close off the surroundings as he had to do many times before while inside the fog ship. His ability to elude himself was extremely capable, but what once was a coping mechanism, had now become the only way known to him to be able to sleep. His mind, being emptied, however, allowed him to become more aware of his surroundings, therefore, when the water surrounding the still boat, began to bubble, Ted immediately stood, removing his left glove in total readiness for what was coming towards him.

"Wake up!" said Ted in a stern voice, this wasn't however directed towards Aldo, this was, in fact, directed toward his left hand. The effect was, however, received by Aldo, who began to rouse.

"Wha..?" said Aldo, in an almost drunken daze "Wha's go-in own?"

"Wake up!" said Ted yet again, still directed towards his hand, now glowing and sending burning sensations though Ted's body.

"Oi! Gizzus ha chanze yeah?" said Aldo, in more of a daze than before, mainly due to the fact that Ted s not common-known for his ability to shout.

"Wake…" Ted began to chant the same phrase yet again, but this time the rune sitting upon his left hand turned a pale black, near to grey, colour. The rune then began to scream, oddly enough. The scream wouldn't seem to cease, most disturbing of all was the tone of the voice; it had no male, female or demizen connotations. It was, for lack of another word, nothing; it was just a scream, ethereal and placid.

This scream brought out more activity from the water below, the radius of the bubble rising from the sea grew rapidly, shortly followed by swarms of fish, dead fish, rising towards the top of the water. The scream had killed them all, but Ted's face was not satisfied, what ever he had sensed from within the water had not yet risen, and he was determined to kill it, without knowing what it was or whether is posed a threat or not.

"What in the name of Pale Gate is going on here?" exclaimed Aldo seeming surprisingly confident given his temperamental personality.

"I have no idea, but we are in danger." Ted replied, quiet and stern were his words, but there was so much fear that Aldo became increasingly worried. Ted, however, was not worried about what was coming, it was fear based solely towards the rune on his left hand. "We need to leave, now. It seems I used the rune without due thought, If we don't leave, we will surely die."

"What? I don't underst…" began Aldo, but as these words left his lips, the sky, previously pale red, began to turn black, the clouds separated. The sun's previous position was now habited by a black version of itself. Four tendrils of darkness began to encroach from the sky, headed directly to towards the two boys in their boat.

"No time!" said Ted, his voice more erratic than before. "I have seen what this rune can do, I…" he paused, but he quickly got back on track. "I don't want you to die by my hand."

"Well then, it seems I'll have to do something about it." Aldo placed his left hand on to his head and then placed his right hand further more atop his left. The culmination of the three runic body parts formed a pale circular symbol. The faint green and blue lights seemed to fade in and out, almost acting as a pulse. As the tendrils lowered, getting ever closer towards the boat, a sharp, loud piercing sound echoed through the surrounding area, cutting through the screams of the Soul Eater with ease, sounding like booming thunder but with a higher and sharper pitch, the sound could be deafening, and yet neither Aldo nor Ted were seemingly bothered by this.

With a louder, clap of this thunder, a large circle of light emanated from the base of the tendrils, the circle was slowly rotating , the inner sides, of which, were 26 rotating symbols , pivoting around a central symbol. This symbol was the same as the one created by Aldo's three runes.

Everything was still, nothing was moving anymore and there was no noise. The bubbles in the water had stopped, the black tendrils had stopped their approach and the boat was no longer rocking. Aldo stood still, sighed, and with a large breath he…

**To be continued.**


End file.
